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Town of Calhoun, South Carolina Oral History Collection

BrownL Cassette 1, Side 1

Media

Part of Interview: Brown, Lucinda Reid

Title

BrownL Cassette 1, Side 1

Source

Lucinda Reid Brown Interview

Date

1988-08-15

Description

Cassette 1

Side 1

00:32: Mrs. Reid Brown is aged 98 in 1988. She was born at home "in the country" between Clemson and Central.

2:05: Dr. Hines is the first local doctor she can recall. The University doctor was Dr. Redfern. Another doctor she can recall is Dr. Watkins (known as Dr. Billy). She states that he was "...a great friend of poor people."

4:40: Her parents were Alfred B. and Harley Reid. Her grandfather Isaac Butler was a slave of John C. Calhoun. In his elderly years, he lived with the Brown family.

6:10: Her grandfather did occasionally speak of his experiences as a slave, but Mrs. Reid Brown admits that she was young, and didn't really pay attention to such stories. She can remember that her grandfather stated that John C. Calhoun was a good master and not cruel to his slaves.

6:51: She briefly recalls the John Crawford and Sloan families. The Sloan and Poe families joined through marriage.

12:58: Her grandmother was Amy Butler. Both her grandparents were African natives. Amy Butler was a slave "across the river" under slave master John Hughen (?).

16:57: Mrs. Reid Brown had many "dear" white friends. She discusses helping raise white children and the close relationships that were forged over the years.

22:03: Her father was Alfred Butler Reid. His mother was Easter (Ester?) Reid. She never married. She was a local midwife. Megginson states that according to the census, she was born in 1835. Mrs. Reid Brown's father was an intelligent man, who attended school as an adult when education was first being made available to blacks. He was a sharecropper and owned a grocery store across from Goldenview Church. He also owned his own property.

29:03: Mrs. Reid Brown briefly discusses her grandfather and his skill with basket weaving.

30:43: Audio ends.

Rights

Interviews may only be reproduced with permission from Clemson University Libraries Special Collections and Archives. All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the Clemson University Libraries Special Collections and Archives.